[{"TitleName":"Screenplay","Publisher":"Macmillan Software Ltd","Author":"Ian Richards","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0008669","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 24, Jan 1986","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-12-12","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":196,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nProduction Assistants: Gordon Druce, Matthew Uffindell\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nSub Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone, John Minson, Mark Hamer, Gary Liddon, Julian Rignall, Gary Penn\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £14.50 post included (UK Mainland); Europe: 12 issues £21.50 post included. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nMICRONET:\r\nYou can talk to CRASH via Micronet. Our MBX is 105845851\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: Macmillan Software\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £8.95\r\nAuthor: Pippa Lewis\r\n\r\nI've been handed this piece of software to review because I'm supposed to be an expert, having spent much of my pre-CRASH time as a film cameraman and TV film editor. Whether this really qualifies me is another matter...!\r\n\r\nScreenplay is described as a means of creating your own film or TV programme on a computer. The package comes as a cassette with two programs on it and a booklet which describes some film techniques and has a section telling you how to use the software. Oddly, it doesn't really explain what the end result is going to be, although it does tell you that you can save your programmes on video if you have a video recorder.\r\n\r\nThe 26-page booklet is the obvious, indeed only, starting place. The first 16 pages are broken up into general chapters on the subject. How film works describes very briefly the technical history of film, showing 'flicker toys' and 'flicker books. It attempts to show how moving images are created by revealing lots of still shots, each action slightly advanced on the last. How the camera works explains the basic mechanism of a film camera, what photographic film is, camera shutters, lenses and film paths. Film tricks explains such devices as fades, dissolves, front projection, mattes, double exposures and the like. This is followed by How TV works, a quick run through of the electronic process and camera, which runs neatly into TV tricks, where mixes, double shots, digital machine effects, character generators and Chroma key are explained.\r\n\r\nMaking a film or TV programme outlines the roles of the producer, script, wardrobe and so on, and simply explains the function of animation, sound tracks and editing. This is followed by a section on cell animation, and then we're into using the software.\r\n\r\nSo far so good. The booklet is not a handbook on film making, and its explanations are of the simplest kind, accompanied by useful illustrations. I suppose all of this could awaken someone's interest sufficiently to go into the subject in more detail but of itself it barely scratches the surface. Using the software however, is less successful in its presentation but first let's look at the computer program.\r\n\r\nScreenplay is icon-driven. A main menu presents seven icons, load, save, wordshot, soundtrack, action, screenshot and Take 1. Load and save speak for themselves a vital function since everything you do must be saved for combining with other elements. All the other options present sub-menu icons. Word-shot is the storyboard and dialogue department. Text can be written in normal or italic mode, in several directions across the screen and in a range of ink and paper colours. Double sized letters may be used. One icon allows rubbing out of a screen, and other work may be loaded in or saved out.\r\n\r\nSoundtrack is a music editor. Films rely heavily on sound effects (FX), but there's no provision for that, and the Spectrum isn't exactly the best beast for effects. Notes may be entered, heard or rubbed out as well as saved. Other music pieces may be loaded in for adding to them or altering.\r\n\r\nAction is a character generator and editor, which allows you to build up figures or objects, invert them, mirror or rotate them and two-frame animate them. Icons are used for all the actions, with a grid being drawn in the display area and the cursor keys used to fill in the character grid. Black or white (rubs out pixels) is toggled on or off with the zero key. Again, ink and paper colours may be selected, and everything saved or earlier work loaded in.\r\n\r\nScreenshot is another graphics generator/editor, allowing the creation of background scenery for your movie. A 'thick' or 'thin' pencil may be used, designs and shapes being done on a blow-up grid similar to that used in action. Closed shapes can be filled from the Spectrum's colour palette, differentiating between ink and paper.\r\n\r\nTake 1 is the editing department, the moment when all your elements are combined to your own choosing. 'Frames' may be dealt with one by one. Characters may be brought from memory onto the screen and positioned with the cursor, then taken through the screen to complete their action. It's possible to have up to 12 sprites on screen at one time. Music may be added at appropriate moments, and the dialogue you have written can be scrolled across the bottom of the screen to complete the effect. A final icon allows a 'premiere' of your masterpiece.\r\n\r\nThe booklet details how to set up computer and video recorder to save out the finished film for a later viewing on the telly (this is where you amaze your family and friends)! Side two of the cassette has a program to load in with several elements already in there. This can be used as your first exercise in using Screenplay. The software is described as 'easy to use', but in truth I found it rather complex and fiddly and not particularly obvious in its use. The icons help, but the inter-relation of the elements is far from clear, and the booklet's descriptions of how to use the various editors or cursor functions within a mode lacks clarity, despite the icons being shown with brief explanations of their functions.\r\n\r\nClearly it's possible to create a semblance of a film, but the final result is somewhat primitive, looking more like an early French talkie with English subtitles. Whilst I think there maybe quite a bit of appeal for the budding film director in Screenplay, and the price of the package isn't extraordinarily high, I can't really see that there is all that much point to it, and in truth the creation of film or TV programme using this computer software seems to me to be stretching the point further than it wants to go.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"39,40","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Roger Kean","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 3, Mar 1986","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1986-02-13","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Martin Dixon\r\nDeputy Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nDesigner: Caroline Clayton\r\nTechnical Consultant: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dougie Bern, Luke C, Steve Colwill, Steve Cooke, Iolo Davidson, Tim Hartnell, Ian Hoare, Alison Hjul, Gwyn Hughes, Steve Malone, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Chris Wood\r\nAdvertisement Manager: David Baskerville\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Neil Dyson\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Chris Talbot\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1986 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Macmillan\n£8.95\nReviewer: Rick Robson\n\nScreenplay sets out to provide not just the technique but also the means to make your own films. Of course, to realise such mega-ambition you need access to a video that'll automatically record the program you've compiled. But even without it you can still create a finished article which you've scripted, plotted, produced music and sound effects for and finally shot and edited.\n\nAs in other Macmillan packages the accompanying booklet is crucial. It gives a brief history of the moving image from the Victorian 'flickers' through cartoons to cinema and TV.\n\nThe software has five basic menus each with its own subs. Wordshot is the simplest - use it for dialogue but perhaps moat usefully for story boards. Sound track - is just that. The Speccy's musical abilities are limited but this'll let you compose simple tunes in C (bass or treble), in various time signatures. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed. Action - the nuts and bolts of your film. It allows you to build sprites on a 16 x 24 grid. A two grid sprite will give you simple animation. Screen- shot - lets you design the fixed backdrop and scenery. It uses the same grid as Wordshot. It's a simple art package with several facilities, including free hand drawing plus various paint/pencil/colour/shape options. Finally Take 1 lets you edit your final production, getting six frames to a shoot including up to 12 sprites.\n\nYour productions with Screenplay won't be on the Steven Spielberg scale and a casual user may soon be frustrated and disappointed. But it's an informative package and if just one person discovers the magic of the movies through it, then it's worth it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"17","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rick Robson","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 45, Dec 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-11-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":156,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writers: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Spitting Image Productions Ltd.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. Please write 'Program Printout' on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n102,023 Jan-Jun 1985"},"MainText":"Publisher: Macmillan\r\nPrice: £8.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\n\r\nCamera, sound, action! Try your hand at being Steven Spielberg.\r\n\r\nThis utility provides all you need to make your own film plot, music and action. The package is split into departments, the first of which is Wordshot, a primitive word processor into which you type your plot and character dialogue.\r\n\r\nNext is the recording of the soundtrack. You can choose the time signature, set for high or low notes, and then compose your tune.\r\n\r\nAction involves a complex sprite designer which can create static or two-stage animated sprites.\r\n\r\nScreenshot provides a similar facility to that of Action but is used for screen design. The computer allows you to create a set by using a freehand drawing or predefined shapes.\r\n\r\nNext, move on to Take One. That is the editing and production department where you put your film together frame by frame. Six frames can be used in each production. When you press the Film Run option you will see your creations come to life.\r\n\r\nScreenplay requires hours of hard work but the results are usually impressive. The booklet shows how the departments illustrated within the software work in a real production company. It provides an expose of the film world.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"28","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]